Conventional hand-held spreaders typically have a rotating impeller that discharges particulate material falling onto the impeller away from the spreader, thereby distributing such particulate material onto a surface. The impeller is often mounted in a chamber and particulate material is discharged out an opening in one side of the chamber away for the user carrying the spreader. The impeller is rotationally coupled to a hand crank by a rotational drive mechanism which may be provided by gears disposed above the chamber, as shown for example in U.S. Pat. No. 3,157,402 to Love, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 3,227,461 to Love, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 3,096,984 to Garrison, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,568 to Stevie, or by gears disposed below the impeller, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,971 to Havlovitz.
One problem with conventional hand-held spreaders is that the impeller often jams due to particulate material getting lodged in the chamber under the impeller obstructing impeller rotation. Jamming of the impeller is undesirable as it can damage or dislodge the impeller, and moreover can cause damage to the spreader's rotational drive mechanism if a user continues to turn the hand crank in an attempt to dislodge the jammed particulate material. Another problem with conventional hand-held spreaders is that particulate material collects in the chamber under the impeller, which if not periodically cleaned, can build-up and impact spreader performance.